Speech for the Ages
by MasterFirebender84
Summary: It has been 40 years since the end of The War, & the world is finally at peace with itself. Avatar Aang & Fire Lord Zuko have assembled all the nations to one place to unveil the completion of a 15 year-long project, one that will unite the four nations.


I'm back again! :D This is yet another crazy idea that popped into my head one day, so I decided to write about it. XD I tried to make it as epic as possible, but since are any of my stories NOT epic? :P This story is entirely speculative since I don't know all the facts about this particular topic. Anyways, enjoy and please review! :D

**DISCLAIMER**: I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. The show and its characters belong to Mike and Bryan, the brillant geniuses behind one of the greatest cartoon shows in the history of cartoons. Their work is legendary, and I salute them for it.

**Speech for the Ages**

Avatar Aang smiled as he looked out over the impossibly massive crowd assembled before him, a mosaic of all the nations of the world gathered in this one place. Mountains surrounded them, with a bay of water off to their right-hand side, Earth and Water forming together as one. Aang was dressed in his Master Airbender robes, which were even grander on this most special of occasions. He stood upon on a platform with an old friend, one that he couldn't have possibly gotten to this point without.

Aang looked to his right and cheerfully said in a deep voice, "Are you ready, Sifu Hotman?"

Fire Lord Zuko, dressed in the robes of his office, looked at the Avatar as he smiled and amiably said, "Absolutely, my old friend." The two had grown much since the end of The War, and their bodies showed for it. There was not a single ounce of frailty or childishness in their mature bodies; only the fiercest of resolve, the mightiest kind of power, and great wisdom.

_Now's the time to make history,_ thought Aang to himself as he looked back out over the crowd, preparing himself to deliver the biggest speech of his lifetime. The morning sun shone bright upon the land, heralding the dawn of a new age in the world of men. The weather was perfect, and the whole valley seemed to be at peace. It was if the Spirits themselves were ensuring that this day would be absolutely perfect.

"Good morning, one and all!" announced Aang in a booming voice, projecting himself out over the crowd so that all could hear him. A wall of noise slammed into his ears as the crowd cheered its response, a chorus of nations that rang deep into the mountains. As the crowd finally grew quiet again, Aang boisterously said, "I have seen many things in my lifetime, from the massacre of my people to the end of the Hundred Years' War. I have fought countless battles to arrive where I am today, but I did not fight alone. I had the most loyal and loving of friends in every nation to help guide me along the way, and I am proud to call them my blood-brothers and blood-sisters."

Gesturing to the crowd with raised arms, he added, "Now that bond of fellowship has been brought to the entire world, and that is the very reason why we are gathered here today. We are gathered here today to remind ourselves that we can put aside our differences, that we can come together and achieve something truly great. I have seen this world grow in this time of treasured peace, a peace that will last long after I am reincarnated into the Water Tribes." A sea of blue-clad people all roared their approval of Aang's statement, bringing a charming smile to his face.

"I have seen the Fire Nation rise from the ashes of its past sins under the prosperous reign of my good friend, Fire Lord Zuko." He turned to his old companion and bowed in the traditional Fire Nation fashion, a gesture which the middle-aged Fire Lord happily returned. Coming out of their bows, they turned back to the crowd as Aang said, "I have seen Zuko grow into a proud and kind-hearted man, a man that all the Fire Nation will honor for generations to come." A smirk came to his face as he jokingly said, "I could go on and name more of my friends, but if I did we would be here all day." The crowd pleasantly laughed at Aang's joke, and he knew that the friends he did have in the crowd were laughing along with them.

"Make no mistake," assured Aang with a light laugh, "if it weren't for all of them, I would not be standing here today. It was because of all of them that I have fully taken on the role of Avatar these past forty years, and I thank the Spirits each and every day for bringing them into my life." He caught the face of his wife Katara in the crowd, a sincere and loving smile on her matured face. His smile grew even wider, invigorating him in the deepest core of his soul.

"For those of you who don't know why we're here today, your ships are waiting to take you home," joked Aang as he pointed to the make-shift docks, eliciting another roar of laughter from the crowd.

"Get on with it, Twinkle Toes!" shouted Toph from the crowd, eliciting another wave of roaring laughter. "My Metalbenders and I didn't do all this work so that you could just stand up there flapping your air-hole!"

Aang chuckled and said, "As much as I hate to agree with my Sifu Toph, she is right. Today is not about me at all, but rather about all of us. This day is for the nations of the world, and I'll tell you how we came to this point." Pointing out to the bay, he said, "Fifteen years ago, I was flying out over that water on my Sky Bison, whom many of you know as Appa. We found a lone island in the middle of the bay that contained a lost Sky Bison herd and a colony of Ring-Tailed Lemurs." Dropping his arm, he added, "I knew that this place was special, so I discussed this area with the heads of each nation."

"After much debate, it was decided by Fire Lord Zuko and I that a city was to be founded here. This city would not belong to one nation and one nation alone, but rather to all the nations of the world. Air Nomads, what little of us that there are, Water Tribe, Earth Kingdom, and Fire Nation will walk together in this great city as equals." Gesturing to Zuko, he added, "I will leave it to the Fire Lord to explain how this great city of ours came to be."

Zuko stepped forward and said, "After the decision to found the city was made, we had many matters to consider. One was that of where this city lies in allegiance to the four nations. After much deliberation, it was decided that this city would lie in a territory of its own so that no one nation would own it, even if we are in the Earth Kingdom right now. This territory is called United Republic, for all the nations have a voice in this place."

"The next order of business was the construction of this grand vision of ours. After much discussion with Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation architects, as well as the Metalbenders taught by Master Toph Bei Fong, and even the famous Mechanist himself, we decided that only the best technology and resources available to us would be used in the construction. The Water Tribes provided their fleets for supply runs, the Earth Kingdom provided their Metalbenders for the construction of the buildings, and the Fire Nation provided their knowledge of metallurgy and metal work for the construction as well."

"I won't go into much detail since I don't want to bore you," he jokingly said, eliciting a chuckle from the crowd, "but I will say is that many, many years of benders and workers of each nation building around the clock have transformed a verdant valley into the most technological and modern city in the entire world. Let today be a reminder to all of you that when we all come together as one, we can accomplish anything. There is still much to be done, however. This city will only grow over the years, and you will help it grow into a city that will forever live on in history." Gesturing back to the Avatar, he added, "I'll let Aang finish up with the speech."

"Tired of speaking already, Sifu Hotman?" teasingly asked Aang as he walked up next to Zuko, causing the crowd to laugh once more. Zuko merely rolled his eyes, smiling when his gaze fell back on the Avatar. Aang looked back at the crowd as he said, "Zuko is right, however. Let the last of fifteen years of labor not go to waste. Let the last forty years of peace we have relished in not die in our hearts for as long as we all shall live. When you gaze upon this city, be proud that you were the first ones to see it. Be proud that future generations will inhabit this city, further our current cause of peace as they live alongside each other in joyful peace and prosperity."

Taking a stance, he added, "Let the eternal elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire come together in this city of four nations." As he said each element, he collected the respective material around his body. Soon he was enclosed in a bubble of air, water and fire streaming around his body, and earthen rocks floating around his body. "May the Spirits guide us as we enter this city, and may they forever be at our side as the years pass us by." Collecting the four elements into a ball, he said, "Without further delay, it is my honor as the Avatar to name this great city, which will forever be known as…" He paused as the launched the elemental ball in the air, aiming it well over their heads. As he fluxed an enormous amount of chi into each element, he shouted just two words...

"REPUBLIC CITY!"

The four elements exploded as one, lighting the sky with a brilliant explosion of color and power. The rocks formed the petals of a lotus with a large ball of fire at the center, water filling the rock petals and air rotating the massive flower. The sky suddenly exploded with fireworks, which were fired off from ships in the bay. The crowd screamed and bellowed its collective approval of what lay before them, a massive city of glimmering steel and timeless dreams. High-rise towers dotted the sky, a new technology only made possible with Fire Nation metal work and the hard back-breaking labor of Metalbenders, and countless other buildings dotted the landscape. The platform Aang and Zuko were on was at the edge of a massive bride which connected the mainland to the city itself, and now people were pouring onto this bridge as they went to marvel at this gigantic accomplishment of mankind.

As the crowds rushed passed them and the fireworks continued to explode, Zuko turned to Aang and musingly said, "If only Uncle was here to see this, the things he would say about what we've done to bring the world even closer together than ever before."

Aang cheerfully smiled and said, "He would be proud of us, Zuko. He would be proud of all of us." The Fire Lord smiled at his life-long friend, happiness sparkling in his bright amber eyes. Aang looked back at the city, truly overwhelmed by what they had accomplished. He couldn't help but smile as proud tears came to his eyes, his emotions being overrun with the flood of humanity around him.

And yet through all the noise and ruckus, he could feel something deep inside of him…a premonition that he would perhaps see this legendary city in another life.

But he knew that was another story entirely, one that was not his.

One that would belong to a denizen of the Water Tribes.


End file.
